Corn and seed planter



(No Model.) f

C. C. HENDERSON. GORN AND SEED PLANTBR.

N0. 852,186. Patentd Nom-9, 1886.

A frio/MEV N PETERS. Phom-Lilhognpher, WnhngmnV D. C.

To all whom it may cncern:

" UN'ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES CARROLL HENDERSON, WARREN, PENNSYLVANIA.

CORN AND SEI-:D PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,186, dated November 9, 1886.

'Application mea rune n, me. serial Naai-1,876. (No moat-,1.) Y

Be itknown that I, CHARLES ,CARROLL HEN- DERsON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Warren, in the county of Warren and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new ,and useful Corn and Seed Planting Machine,

Fig. 2 is a detail side view of one lof the drivefrm wheels, `showing the interior fiange, and shaftpulley. resting and moving upon said flange;

Fig. 3, a detail front view showing the seed-` planting-foot; Fig. 7, a front view ofsame, and.

a plan view of lever for raising the Fig. B planting devices.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

it will be seen that the device consists of a seed box or reservoir, A, supported upon an axle, C, of any desired length, (its front'sid'e being flush withthe frontof the axle,) depending simply, upon the number of rows to be planted at one time. Each of the drive-wheels B has an interior and circumferential flange, P, to guide and support friction-wheel F, which imparts motion to the transverse crankshaft E securedl thereto. The crank-arms z" on the cranks i of shaft E areV made adj ustable on said cranks by. means of set screws or bolts la, which pass through openings in each, asshown in Fig. 3. There will be as many of these crank-arms and cranks on shaft E as there are rows to be planted, and their operation -will be explained hereinafter.

The seed-dropping mechanism consists of an automaticslide in the-box A, a telescopic delivery-tube, and a valved planting-foot. In the bottom of box A a slide-valve, a, is placed and extends beyond the sides, and is slotted at v its front end and connected to the puller L by means of a bolt, c", working in a slot in the front end of the slide. An opening, T, permits the seed to pass from the slide to seedconductors D, which deliver it into plantingshoes M. The4 puller L is made angular, as shown, and has its upper end pivoted to the front side of the box A by means of a staple, its lower end being secured to a strap, f', by a bolt or pin, f. This strap f is secured to the upper end of the seed-conductor and swings -in conjunction with the upper half of said conductor.

The seed-conductor consists of two parts. l

The upper part, d, is hinged to the front of Ythe axle C, the axle having a groove cnt init,

as shown in dotted lines,Fig. 4, to permit the conductor to swing back and forth. Thelower portion, D, of the seed-conductor telescopes ,over the upper part, d, (whichfat its top is concaved to receive the seed,) and is secured to the crank-arm i by means of a cross-shaped clasp,`the front part, b', clasping the seed-conductor, and the rear part, b, encircling the l crank-arm i', and holds it sufficiently tight to permit the seed-conductor to move up and down and reciprocate with the reciprocal movement of the crank-arm.

A set-screw, m, tightens and holds the seedconductor to the crank-arm after it has been determined what depth the planting-foot shall enter the ground. As the shaft E and crankarm i reciprocate, the lower part, D, ofthe delivery-tube moves up and down over the upper part, d, thus giving the telescopic movement before referred to.

The planting foot consists of a wedgeshaped receptacle, M, on the lower end of tube D, and provided on its rear face with a door,

S', hinged at S. A rod, n, is secured tothe and can therefore be adjusted vertically tov meet the upper end of rod n. The object of roc this is as follows:-As the planting-foot and seed-conductors move forward they approach the vertical, and when they have reached their lowest point (the end of the foot being in the ground to its extreme depth) the upper end of rod a strikes the shoe v at end of slide N, which causes the rod a to swing forward slightly, carrying the door back, and thus opening the door and permitting the seed to escape. As soon as this full movementis completed and the conducting-tubes are moving back the rod passes from beneath the shoe, and the door is again closed by means of the spring contained within the chamber of the planting-foot and secured to said door. The shaftE and wheels F are held down upon the flange P of wheels B by means of suitable springs, o', inthe boxing, thus preventing slifpping of the wheels in their motion. The shaftrests are made in two parts, G G', and made vertically adjustable by means of set-screws IV, which pass through slots in the piece G', Fig. 6. A rod, O, extends across the front of the seed-box A, and is pivotally secured thereto by staples r,driven into the box. The ends of this rod are bent forward, formingbearings for rods H, which at their lower ends encircle the shaft E. A short arm, z, Fig. 8, is also bent forward, and has depending from it a chain, I, which is secured to the central crankarm, fi, to turn up said crank-arm at the same time theh shaft is being raised, which is accomplished by means of the lifting hand-lever h, made integral with the shaft o. The distance between the rows is obtained by the distribution of the planters along the axle. Thus, if

l it is desired to have four feet between the rows,

place the outside planters two feet from the center of tire of wheel B to the center of planting-foot M, the remaining ones will be placed four feet from center to center of said planting-feet. In thisimachine the wheels do their own marking, for as the machineis turned the outside wheel follows the track of the former inside wheel, and so 011.

The complete operation of the device is as follows: As the wheels B move forward they cause the pulleys F to move by friction on the flange I), and as the shaft E is rigidly secured thereto this shaft commences to turn and reciprocate the crank-arms t'. This in turn causes the planting-feet and seed-conductors to be raised and moved forward, giving'the. spacing movement desired. Now, as these tubes move forward, the puller L attached thereto (and to the slide-valve c) moves forward, drawing out the valve and permitting the seed to drop into the delivery-tube D, and from thence in foot M; but as the tubes commence t0 reach the vertical the puller L and slide-valve a move back and are again ready to withdraw the seed. The tubes D and plantingfeet move, when in the ground, praeticallyin an oval are; hence the point of foot M reaches the ground at the inner end of the longer axis, then passes into the ground and reaches its greatest depth at the lower end of the shorter axis, and then moves outwardly along the curve until the crank-arm moves up to its highest position, when the planting foot travels 011 nearly a straight line for four feet, and then again enters the ground, and this movement is continuous for all the planting-feet and their actuating mechanism. NVhen the end of the field is reached, the driver simply lifts lever It up and back to the vertical, which in turn lifts the shaft E and crank-arms, through the intervention of rods II and chain I. W'hen the turn has been made, the lever h is again throuin forward and the machine is again ready for action. It may be here stated that as the crank-arms 'i' rise the tubes D are carried up and telescope with d, and as the said arms descend the tubes D descend with them. But four valve pullers are really needed, two at each end of the outerend valves. The remaining valves can be operated by a bar running across the ends and joined, as in a gang movement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a seed-planter, thc combination, with the driving-wheels provided with an internal circumferential flange, of pulley-wheels supported by and moving upon said flanges, said wheels actuating a shaft which imparts motion to the planting mechanism, as set forth.

2. In a seed-planter, the combination, with the internally-hanged driving-wheels and friction-pulleys supported by and moving thereon, of a crank-shaft provided with adjustable crank-arms, as set forth.

3. In a seed-planter, the combination, with the flanged driving wheels, friction pulleys, and crank shaft having adjustable crankarms, of seed-delivery tubes adjustably secured to said crank-arms, said tubes telescoping within each other, as set forth.

4. In a seed-planter, the combination, with the seed-reservoir and sliding valves in bottom thereof, of seed-delivery tubes, said tubes being of unequal diameter and moving one within the other, one part of said tubes being hinged'to the axle, the other one adjustably secured to a crank-arm on the actuating-shaft, as set forth.

5. In a seed-planter, the combination, with the seed-reservoir and delivery-tubes, of a planting-shoe provided with a hinged door, said door having an arm projecting upward IOO and adapted to engage with a shoe on a r'od or 7. In a seed-planter, the combination, withthe seed-box and delivery-tubes,of the axle C, having frontrecesses to accommodate the back- 9. In a seed-planter, the combination, with the seed-receptacle, crank-shaft E, and its operating mechanism, 0f the shaft O,pivoted to I5 the seed-box and provided with a hand-lever, the end rods secured thereto and to the crankshaft, and the chains Lattached to shaft Ofand the adjustable crank-arms, as set forth.

` CHARLES CARROLL HENDERSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN AUGUST BEURSTEDT, CHARLES EDWARD Grilwilv.4 

